The untold story of the 868th Bomb Squadron, the Nightstalkers, who paired cutting-edge technology with daring - launching single-aircraft night-time missions stalking the Japanese in the Pacific. In August 1943, a highly classified US Army Air Force unit, code-named the "Wright Project," departed Langley Field for Guadalcanal in the South ......
A detailed investigation into the downing of an American B-17 Flying Fortress and the fate of her crew in the final months of the Second World War. On March 18, 1945, the B-17G "Lady Jane II" lifted off from her base at Deenethorpe, England; she never returned. The story is one of deep tragedy and survival, of sacrifice, and of the love the ......
Founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing, a wealthy timber merchant, the mighty Boeing Companys 100-year history spans decades of rich achievement and technological development. Beginning with the manufacture of seaplanes, fighters and, from the 1930s onwards, huge bombers, Boeing pioneered innovative transports gigantic airliners, missiles, ......
Airpower Pioneers studies twelve especially influential airmen, detailing their impact on the evolution of the United States Air Force (USAF). Rather than focus on command in a series of air campaigns, this book describes the personal qualities and careers of people who distinguished themselves first and foremost by advancing airpower ......
Will resonate with readers of the The Forgotten 500 and Code Talker. The exploits, trials, disappointments, and victories of members of the American 57th Bomb Wing in WW II, including one young bombardier who would go on to write legendary WW II novel, Catch-22.
"He had decided to ......
This untold story of early jet development, surviving the collapse of the Reich, and starting over in America is recounted by Reiner Decher, whos father Siegfried was an engineer on the team that designed the engine for the Me 262. Germany built the first operational jet aircraft during World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 262. Siegfried Decher ......
For Dutton Calibers American War Heroes series, the riveting true story ofUnited States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager. Bold, brash, and brimming with courage, Chuck Yeager burst onto the scene as a national hero in 1947, when he became the first to fly an airplane faster than the speed of sound. Yet ......
Unpublished, candid interviews with crucial figures in early American aviation, including Jimmy Doolittle, Alexander Seversky, George Kenney, Reuben Fleet, and many more. McCook Field was a small air base in Dayton, Ohio, that was active only from 1917 to 1927. McCook was exceptional because it was designated by the US Signal Corps / Army Air ......
The Gloster Javelin was the UKs first line of night and all-weather air defence both at home and in RAF Germany. In the 1950s, when it replaced the Meteor and Venom, this revolutionary bomber interceptor became integral to many great stories told here in terrific detail. With an unorthodox aerodynamic design, the Javelin initially had major ......
Gnat Boys relates the history of the aircraft and includes many fascinating and untold stories told by those who flew the aircraft, many of them well-known and distinguished aviators. The Folland Gnat was used by the RAF mainly in the advanced training role, in the 1960s and 70s, where it proved to be an ideal lead-in trainer for high ......
Helicopters have been going to sea with the Royal Navys Fleet Air Arm for over 70 years. Initially used for search and rescue (SAR) duties from aircraft carriers, the rapid development of both the helicopters and service experience resulted in them taking on the vital anti-submarine (and later anti-ship) attack roles. The 1956 Suez campaign saw ......
In 1978, in the tailwind of the golden age of air travel, flight attendants were the epitome of glamor and sophistication. Fresh out of college and hungry to experience the world-and maybe, one day, write about it-Ann Hood joined their ranks. After a grueling job search, Hood survived TWAs rigorous Breech Training Academy and learned to ......
Having flown an astonishing 400 different aircraft, as a licensed Category 1 test pilot and flight test instructor for both aeroplanes and helicopters, Chris Taylor is arguably one of the best qualified and widely experienced test pilots working today anywhere in the world. After obtaining his private pilots licence at the age of just 17, Chris ......
A white-knuckle account of life in the dog-eat-dog arena of fighter combat This is the story of what it takes to make it in fighter combat. In the cockpit or crew room, the pressure is relentless, the humour merciless. Its no place for the faint-hearted. Whether landing on a pitching aircraft carrier deck at midnight, or saving heroes under ......
Glamour, danger, liberation: in a Mad Men era of commercial flight, Pan Am World Airways attracted the kind of young woman who wanted out, and wanted up
Required to have a college degree, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on ......
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
An inspirational read celebrating the incredible young people who gave so much for this iconic British aircraft. John Nichol, bestselling author of Spitfire: A Very British Love Story
Despite the many films and television programmes over the ......
Now remarkably in its 28th edition, ever since it was first published in the 1960s every edition of Wrecks & Relics has been eagerly sought after by aviation enthusiasts, restorers and curators alike. It is renowned as the go-to source charting the highlights, changes and trends in the preservation of the aviation heritage of the British Isles. ......
This is a detailed and fully illustrated monograph which chronicles and considers the camouflage and markings of aircraft operated by the Royal Navy between 1937 and 1941. Among the types included are the Supermarine Walrus, Blackburn Shark, Blackburn Skua, Blackburn Roc, Gloster Sea Gladiator, Hawker Osprey IV, Fairey Swordfish, Fairey Seafox, ......
As a child, Dilip Sarkar was fascinated by the haunting image of an anonymous RAF Spitfire pilot. Taken minutes after landing from a Battle of Britain combat, this was Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC, the commander of 19 Squadron, based at Fowlmere - and author of the stirring first-hand account Spitfire! The Experiences of a Fighter Pilot, ......
The world is at war-Pearl Harbor and WWII. A desire to serve, a chance to fly-he joins the navys V-5 program, the finest flight training ever devised. Come fly with him in open-cockpit biplanes, low-wing trainers, dive bombers, and fighters as he wins the gold wings of a naval aviator, an officers stripes, and the designation of carrier-based ......
Flying Camelot brings us back to the post-Vietnam era, when the US Air Force launched two new, state-of-the art fighter aircraft: the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. It was an era when debates about aircraft superiority went public-and these were not uncontested discussions. Michael W. Hankins ......
This volume presents the history of the American jet aircraft manufacturing industry from World War II to 1972, documenting the evolution of its technology and covering the intricacies of its management, economics, and relations with the government. A valuable contribution to general aviation history, it also provides a unique opportunity to ......
Howard Hughes life ambition was to make a significant contribution to the field of aviation development. But the monumental folly of his endeavours on the HK-I Hercules meant that he came to be known and remembered to a great extent for all the wrong reasons. The Spruce Goose (a name Hughes detested) became a product of his wild fixation on ......
Just eighteen months after two Frenchmen made the worlds first ever flight, a fearless British woman hopped into a flimsy balloon and flew across the London sky for nearly an hour. Since then, many other remarkable British women have decided to defy traditional society and follow their dreams to get into the sky. For the first time, Magnificent ......
The biography of Frank Whittle - RAF pilot, mathematician of genius, inventor of the jet engine and British hero.
The story of Frank Whittle - RAF pilot, mathematician of genius, inventor of the jet engine and British hero.
In 1929, a twenty-two-year-old maverick named Frank Whittle - a self-taught aeronautical obsessive and ......
No symbol better conveys the intrepid spirit of Australia than the flying kangaroo. Whether it’s glimpsed on a red-eye flight to an interstate business meeting, before leaving for adventure or holidays, or when longing to return home, that sweep of red defines air travel in Australia.
Qantas has always been about ......
The international bestselling author returns with an exploration of one of the grandest obsessions of the twentieth century The Bomber Mafia is a case study in how dreams go awry. When some shiny new idea drops from the heavens, it does not land softly in our laps. It lands hard, on the ground, and shatters. In the years before the Second World ......
Amelia Earharts prominence in American aviation during the 1930s obscures a crucial point: she was but one of a closely knit community of women pilots. Although the women were well known in the profession and widely publicized in the press at the time, they are largely overlooked today. Like Earhart, they wrote extensively about aviation and ......
This book is a visual biography of the legendary Swiss aviation pioneer Alfred Comte (1895-1965). Combining historical photos and documents with texts by Comtes son (also Alfred) and grandson the photographer Michel Comte, the book is the first to comprehensively explore the aviators extraordinary life and achievements. Alfred ......
The RAF Halton Apprenticeship Scheme has a deserved reputation for excellence. The brainchild of MRAF Hugh Trenchard, the founder of the Royal Air Force, it took the traditional idea of an apprenticeship and interpreted it in a novel way. It allowed teenage boys from any social background or geography to learn a technical trade that would equip ......
Only in America could Walter A. Soplata, the son of penniless Czech immigrants, accomplish so much by single-handedly saving historic aircraft from World War II and other periods. After a childhood spent dreaming about having his own airfield, Soplata worked in scrapyards taking apart hundreds of WWII aircraft.
Shocked to see ......
This is an extraordinary story, beginning with a bare-foot colonial childhood, and indeed not speaking English until he was four, yet ending up at Cambridge, ultimately dealing at the highest levels of the Russian aviation industry. Richard Goode’s life has been a fascinating series of activities, both social and business, dealing with an ......
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